Preface
new to this edition
Like the tenth edition, the eleventh edition reflects a combination of both unsolicited and solicited input. Positive feedback suggested aspects of the text that should not be changed—the writing style and the focus on ethical practice, for example. Those aspects remain. However, for the first time in many years, the Table of Contents reflects a new organization for the book. Part I, Foundational Concepts and Processes retains the same six chapters from the 10th edition, but Part II, Research Designs, includes all of the research design chapters that were previously separated into quantitative research designs and qualitative research designs. This reflects our decision to provide a comprehensive discussion of all the research designs before discussing data analysis and interpretation. Part III, Working with Quantitative and Qualitative Data brings together discussions of descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and qualitative data collection and analysis. The intent of this new section is to provide a comprehensive section on both quantitative and qualitative data analysis and interpretation that reflects the increasing application of mixed methods designs in educational research. Part IV, Reporting and Critiquing Research effectively remains the same.
Content changes reflect the inclusion of new topics and the expansion or clarification of existing topics. There are many improvements in this edition, and we describe the more significant highlights here:
■ All research articles have been annotated and now include descriptive annotations (what is the researcher doing) and reflective/evaluative annotations (how did the researcher’s decisions support or challenge the chosen research design). These annotations will scaffold the readers’ understanding of the content of the chapters to the sample journal articles.
■ Chapter 1 (and subsequent chapters throughout the book) include a new “Write Like a Researcher” Feature that have been designed
specifically with the purpose of encouraging new researchers to start writing early in the research process.
■ Chapter 3 has undergone significant revision because of the way technology has affected the literature review process. Changes include a Digital Research Tools feature on Google Book and Google Scholar, step-by-step directions for an ERIC EBSCO search that maximizes the power of university library consortium agreements to identify fully online journal articles, a “Write Like a Researcher” feature that encourages new researchers to start their writing of the review of related literature very early in the research process.
■ Chapter 8 on experimental research has been significantly updated to reflect 21st century discussions about validity, effect size, power, and quasi-experimental designs.
■ Chapter 15 on mixed methods designs has been significantly updated to reflect the expansion of three basic and three advanced mixed methods designs currently being used in educational research settings.
■ The chapters on Descriptive and Inferential Statistics (now Chapters 17 and 18 in Part III Working with Quantitative and Qualitative Data) have been updated to reflect new versions of SPSS and Excel.
In addition, we have added new tables and figures throughout the text. Every chapter has been edited and updated. References have been updated. Appendix A that historically contained tables related to random numbers, and so on, has been deleted and replaced with links throughout the book to online sources that provide the same information.
PhilosoPhy and PurPose
This text is designed primarily for use in the introductory course in educational research that is a basic requirement for many graduate programs.
Because the topic coverage of the text is relatively comprehensive, it may be easily adapted for use in either a senior-level undergraduate course or a more advanced graduate-level course.
The philosophy that guided the development of the current and previous editions of this text was the conviction that an introductory research course should be more oriented toward skill and application than toward theory. Thus, the purpose of this text is for students to become familiar with research mainly at a “how-to” skill and application level. The authors do not mystify students with theoretical and statistical jargon. They strive to provide a downto-earth approach that helps students acquire the skills and knowledge required of a competent consumer and producer of educational research. The emphasis is not just on what the student knows but also on what the student can do with what he or she knows. It is recognized that being a “good” researcher involves more than the acquisition of skills and knowledge; in any field, important research is usually produced by those who through experience have acquired insights, intuitions, and strategies related to the research process. Research of any worth, however, is rarely conducted in the absence of basic research skills and knowledge. A fundamental assumption of this text is that the competencies required of a competent consumer of research overlap considerably with those required of a competent producer of research. A person is in a much better position to evaluate the work of others after she or he has performed the major tasks involved in the research process.
organization and strategy
The overall strategy of the text is to promote students’ attainment of a degree of expertise in research through the acquisition of knowledge and by involvement in the research process.
organization
In the eleventh edition, Part I “Foundational Concepts and Processes” includes discussion of the scientific and disciplined inquiry approach and its application in education. The main steps in the research process and the purpose and methods of the various research designs are discussed. In Part I,
each student selects and delineates a research problem of interest that has relevance to his or her professional area. Throughout the rest of the text, the student then simulates the procedures that would be followed in conducting a study designed to investigate the research problem; each chapter develops a specific skill or set of skills required for the execution of such a research design. Specifically, the student learns about the application of the scientific method in education and the ethical considerations that affect the conduct of any educational research (Chapter 1), identifies a research problem and formulates hypotheses (Chapter 2), conducts a review of the related literature (Chapter 3), develops a research plan (Chapter 4), selects and defines samples (Chapter 5), and evaluates and selects measuring instruments (Chapter 6). Throughout these chapters are parallel discussions of quantitative and qualitative research constructs. This organization, with increased emphasis on ethical considerations in the conduct of educational research and the skills needed to conduct a comprehensive review of related literature, allows the student to see the similarities and differences in research designs and to understand more fully how the nature of the research question influences the selection of a research design. Part II “Research Designs” includes description and discussion of different quantitative research designs, qualitative research designs, mixed methods research designs, and action research designs. Part III “Working with Quantitative and Qualitative Data” includes two chapters devoted to the statistical approaches and the analysis and interpretation of quantitative data, and two chapters describing the collection, analysis, and interpretation of qualitative data. Part IV “Reporting and Critiquing Research” focuses on helping the student prepare a research report, either for the completion of a degree requirement or for publication in a refereed journal, and an opportunity for the student to apply the skills and knowledge acquired in Parts I through III to critique a research report.
strategy
This text represents more than just a textbook to be incorporated into a course; it is a total instructional system that includes stated learning outcomes, instruction, and procedures for evaluating
each outcome. The instructional strategy of the system emphasizes the demonstration of skills and individualization within this structure. Each chapter begins with a list of learning outcomes that describes the knowledge and skills that the student should gain from the chapter. In many instances, learning outcomes may be assessed either as written exercises submitted by students or by tests, whichever the instructor prefers. In most chapters, a task to be performed is described next. Tasks require students to demonstrate that they can perform particular research skills. Because each student works with a different research problem, each student demonstrates the competency required by a task as it applies to his or her own problem. With the exception of Chapter 1, an individual chapter is directed toward the attainment of only one task (occasionally, students have a choice between a quantitative and qualitative task).
Text discussion is intended to be as simple and straightforward as possible. Whenever feasible, procedures are presented as a series of steps, and concepts are explained in terms of illustrative examples. In a number of cases, relatively complex topics or topics beyond the scope of the text are presented at a very elementary level, and students are directed to other sources for additional, in-depth discussion. There is also a degree of intentional repetition; a number of concepts are discussed in different contexts and from different perspectives. Also, at the risk of eliciting more than a few groans, an attempt has been made to sprinkle the text with touches of humor—a hallmark of this text spanning three decades—and perhaps best captured by the pictures and quotes that open each chapter. Each chapter includes a detailed, often lengthy summary with headings and subheadings directly parallel to those in the chapter. The summaries are designed to facilitate both the review and location of related text discussion. Finally, each chapter (or part) concludes with suggested criteria for evaluating the associated task and with an example of the task produced by a former introductory educational research
student. Full-length articles, reprinted from the educational research literature, appear at the ends of all chapters presenting research designs and serve as illustrations of “real-life” research using that design. For the 11th edition all of these articles have been annotated with descriptive and evaluative annotations.
suPPlementary materials
Thefollowingresourcesareavailableforinstructorsto download from www.pearsonglobaleditions.com/ mills. Download the supplement you need. If you require assistance in downloading any resources, contact your Pearson representative.
instructor’s Resource Manual With test Bank
The Instructor’s Resource Manual with Test Bank is divided into two parts. The Instructor’s Resource Manual contains, for each chapter, suggested activities that have been effectively used in Educational Research courses, strategies for teaching, and selected resources to supplement the textbook content. The test bank contains multiple-choice items covering the content of each chapter, newly updated for this edition, and can be printed and edited or used with TestGen® .
testGen®
TestGen is a powerful test generator available exclusively from Pearson Education publishers. You install TestGen on your personal computer and create your own tests for classroom testing and for other specialized delivery options, such as over a local area network or on the web. A test bank, which is also called a Test Item File (TIF), typically contains a large set of test items, organized by chapter and ready for your use in creating a test, based on the associated textbook material. Assessments may be created for both print and testing online.
PowerPoint® slides
The PowerPoint® slides highlight key concepts and summarize text content to help students understand, organize, and remember core concepts and ideas. Theyareorganizedaroundchapterlearningoutcomes to help instructors structure class presentations.
acknowledgments
I sincerely thank everyone who provided input for the development of this edition. The following individuals made thoughtful and detailed suggestions and comments for improving the eleventh edition: M.H. Clark, University of Central Florida; Anne Dahlman, Minnesota State University, Mankato; Dwight R. Gard, Texas Tech University; Jann W. MacInnes, University of Florida; Lauren Saenz, Boston College; and Rishi Sriram, Baylor University. These reviewers contributed greatly to the eleventh edition and their efforts are very much appreciated. This edition benefited from the efforts of two editors: Kevin Davis and Gail Gottfried. A few words of thanks are in order here. For nearly 20 years I have been fortunate to work with Kevin Davis, Vice President and Publisher at Pearson. Kevin gave me my textbook start in 1997 when he offered me a contract to write Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher (now in its fifth edition). Kevin has taught me a great deal about writing, and I will always be indebted to him for trusting me with stewardship of this wonderful text. I have also been fortunate to work with my Developmental Editor, Gail Gottfried, for a number of years spanning both my action research and educational research books.
My virtual relationship with Gail is remarkable. While we have never met face-to-face I trust and respect all the contributions she has made to my work over the years. I benefit greatly from Gail’s creative thinking about how to make an educational research textbook meaningful and fun. Also
at Pearson, Lauren Carlson ably shepherded the manuscript through development and production, responded to my cries for help, and kept me on track. An author does not take on the task of a major revision of a text of this magnitude without the commitment and support of excellent editors. Kevin and Gail were instrumental in the development of this edition and I sincerely thank them for their professionalism, patience, caring, and sense of humor.
I believe that I have made a positive contribution to this text, now my fourth edition, and added to the wisdom of earlier editions by L. R. Gay and Peter Airasian. Long-time users of the text will still “hear” Lorrie Gay’s voice throughout the text, but increasingly there is an Aussie accent and sense of humor creeping its way into the pages!
I wish to thank my friend and colleague Dr. Ken Kempner (Emeritus Professor, Southern Oregon University) for his thoughtful work on revising the descriptive and inferential statistics chapters and feedback on other quantitative chapters in the text.
Finally,I want to thank my best friend and wife, Dr. Donna Mills (Southern Oregon University), and my son, Jonathan, for their love, support, and patience. Their commitment to my work is always appreciated and never taken for granted. The completion of this edition signals another new era in my life as my son Jonathan completes his undergraduate degree and contemplates work and graduate school, and Donna prepares for retirement after a very successful university career. I continue to suggest to Jonathan that one day he may want to take over my books. While it is safe to say that he is less than excited by the prospect—his undergraduate experiences in the Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon and his study abroad experiences at the University of Oxford have seen his interest in research increase dramatically!
Geoff Mills Southern Oregon University
Educational Research: Method, Purpose, and Ethics
“despite a popular stereotype that depicts researchers as spectacled, stoop-shouldered, elderly gentlemen who endlessly add chemicals to test tubes, every day thousands of men and women of all ages, shapes, and sizes conduct educational research in a wide variety of settings.” (p. 21)
Little Heroes 3, 2002
lEaRninG outcoMEs
After reading Chapter 1, you should be able to do the following:
1. Briefly describe the reasoning involved in the scientific method.
2. Explain why researchers would use quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, or action research designs to address a specific research problem.
3. Briefly define and state the major characteristics of these research designs: survey, correlational, causal–comparative, experimental, single-subject, narrative, ethnographic, case study, mixed methods, and action research.
4. Explain the purposes of basic research, applied research, evaluation research, research and development (R&D), and action research.
5. Explain the ethical obligations that educational researchers have and describe the codes and procedures they must follow to ensure they adhere to them.
welcome!
If you are taking a research course because it is required in your program of studies, raise your right hand. If you are taking a research course because it seems like it will be a really fun elective, raise your left hand. We thought you may not be here of your own free will. Although you may be required to take this course, you are not the innocent victim of one or more sadists. Your professors have several legitimate reasons for believing this research course is an essential component of your education.
First, educational research findings contribute significantly to both educational theory and educational practice. As a professional, you need to know how to find, understand, and evaluate these findings. And when you encounter research findings in professional publications or in the media, you have a responsibility, as a professional, to distinguish between legitimate and ill-founded research claims. Second, although many of you will be primarily critical consumers of research,
Completing Chapter 1 should enable you to perform the following tasks:
tasks 1a, 1B
Identify and briefly state the following for both research studies at the end of this chapter:
1. The research design
2. The rationale for the choice of the research design
3. The major characteristics of the research design, including research procedures, method of analysis, and major conclusions
4. Ethical issues the authors experienced and how they were addressed
(See Performance Criteria, p. 51.)
task 1c
Classify given research studies based on their characteristics and purposes. (See Performance Criteria, p. 51.)
some of you will decide to become educational researchers. A career in research opens the door to a variety of employment opportunities in universities, research centers, and business and industry.
Despite a popular stereotype that depicts researchers as spectacled, stoop-shouldered, elderly gentlemen (a stereotype I am rapidly approaching!) who endlessly add chemicals to test tubes, every day thousands of men and women of all ages and postures conduct educational research in a wide variety of settings. Every year many millions of dollars are spent in the quest for knowledge related to teaching and learning. Educational research has contributed many findings concerning principles of behavior, learning, and retention of knowledge—many of which can also be applied to curriculum, instruction, instructional materials, and assessment techniques. Both the quantity and the quality of research are increasing, partly because researchers are better trained. Educational research classes have become core components of preservice teacher education programs, as well as the cornerstone of advanced degree programs.
We recognize that educational research is a relatively unfamiliar discipline for many of you. Our first goals, then, are to help you acquire a general understanding of research processes and to help you develop the perspective of a researcher. We begin by examining the scientific method.
the scientific method
What is knowledge? And how do we come to “know” something? Experience is certainly one of the fundamental ways we come to know about and understand our world. For example, a child who touches something hot learns that high heat hurts. We know other things because a trusted authority, such as a parent or a teacher, told us about them. Most likely, much of your knowledge of current world events comes secondhand, from things you have read or heard from a source you trust. Another way we come to know something is through thinking, through reasoning. Reasoning refers to the process of using logical thought to reach a conclusion. We can reason inductively or deductively. inductive reasoning involves developing generalizations based on observation of a limited number of related events or experiences. Consider the following example of inductive reasoning:
Observation: An instructor examines five research textbooks. Each contains a chapter about sampling.
Generalization: The instructor concludes that all research textbooks contain a chapter about sampling.
deductive reasoning involves essentially the reverse process—arriving at specific conclusions based on general principles, observations, or experiences (i.e., generalizations)—as shown in the next example.
Observations: All research textbooks contain a chapter on sampling. The book you are reading is a research text.
Generalization: This book must contain a chapter on sampling. (Does it?)
Although people commonly use experience, authority, inductive reasoning, and deductive reasoning to learn new things and draw new conclusions from that knowledge, each of these
approaches to understanding has limitations when used in isolation. Some problems associated with experience and authority as sources of knowledge are graphically illustrated in a story told about Aristotle. According to the story, one day Aristotle caught a fly and carefully counted and recounted the legs. He then announced that flies have five legs. No one questioned the word of Aristotle. For years his finding was accepted uncritically. Unfortunately, the fly that Aristotle caught just happened to be missing a leg! Whether or not you believe the story, it illustrates the limitations of relying on personal experience and authority as sources of knowledge.
The story also points out a potential problem with inductive reasoning: Generalizing from a small sample, especially one that is atypical, can lead to errors. Deductive reasoning, too, is limited by the evidence in the original observations. If every research text really does have a chapter on sampling, and if this book really is a research text, then it follows that this book must have a chapter on sampling. However, if one or more of the premises is false (perhaps some research texts do not have a chapter on sampling), your conclusion may also be wrong.
When we rely exclusively on these common approaches to knowing, the resulting knowledge is susceptible to error and may be of limited value to understanding the world beyond our immediate experience. However, experience, authority, and inductive and deductive reasoning are very effective when used together as integral components of the scientific method. The scientific method is an orderly process entailing a number of steps: recognition and definition of a problem, formulation of hypotheses, collection of data, analysis of data, and statement of conclusions regarding confirmation or disconfirmation of the hypotheses (i.e., a researcher forms a hypothesis—an explanation for the occurrence of certain behaviors, phenomena, or events—as a way of predicting the results of a research study and then collects data to test that prediction). These steps can be applied informally to solve everyday problems such as the most efficient route to take from home to work or school, the best time to go to the bank, or the best kind of computer to purchase. The more formal application of the scientific method is standard in research; it is more efficient and more
reliable than relying solely on experience, authority, inductive reasoning, and deductive reasoning as sources of knowledge.
limitations of the scientific Method
The steps in the scientific method guide researchers in planning, conducting, and interpreting research studies. However, it is important to recognize some limitations of the method. First, the scientific method cannot answer all questions. For example, applying the scientific method will not resolve the question “Should we legalize euthanasia?” The answers to questions like this one are influenced by personal philosophy, values, and ethics.
Second, application of the scientific method can never capture the full richness of the individuals and the environments under study. Although some applications of the method lead to deeper understanding of the research context than others, no application—and in fact no research approach—provides full comprehension of a site and its inhabitants. No matter how many variables one studies or how long one is immersed in a research context, other variables and aspects of context will remain unexamined. Thus, the scientific method and, indeed, all types of inquiry give us a simplified version of reality.
Third, our measuring instruments always have some degree of error. The variables we study are often proxies for the real behavior we seek to examine. For example, even if we use a very precisely constructed multiple-choice test to assess a person’s values, we will likely gather information that gives us a picture of that person’s beliefs about his or her values. However, we aren’t likely to have an adequate picture of how that person acts, which may be the better reflection of the person’s real values.
More broadly, all educational inquiry, not just the scientific method, is carried out with the cooperation of participants who agree to provide researchers with data. Because educational researchers deal with human beings, they must consider a number of ethical concerns and responsibilities to the participants. For example, they must shelter participants from real or potential harm. They must inform participants about the nature of the planned research and address the expectations of the participants. These factors can limit and skew results. All these limitations will be addressed in later sections of this book.
application of the scientific Method in Education
Research is the formal, systematic application of the scientific method to the study of problems; educational research is the formal, systematic application of the scientific method to the study of educational problems. The goal of educational research is essentially the same as the goal of all science: to describe, explain, predict, or control phenomena—in this case, educational phenomena. As we mentioned previously, it can be quite difficult to describe, explain, predict, and control situations involving human beings, who are by far the most complex of all organisms. So many factors, known and unknown, operate in any educational environment that it can be extremely difficult to identify specific causes of behaviors or to generalize or replicate findings. The kinds of rigid controls that can be established and maintained in a biochemistry laboratory, for instance, are impossible in an educational setting. Even describing behaviors, based on observing people, has limits. Observers may be subjective in recording behaviors, and people who are observed may behave atypically just because they are being watched. Chemical reactions, on the other hand, are certainly not aware of being observed! Nevertheless, behavioral research should not be viewed as less scientific than natural science research conducted in a lab.
Despite the difficulty and complexity of applying the scientific method in educational settings, the steps of the scientific method used by educational researchers are the same as those used by researchers in other more easily controlled settings:
1. Selection and definition of a problem. A problem is a question of interest that can be tested or answered through the collection and analysis of data. Upon identifying a research question, researchers typically review previously published research on the same topic and use that information to hypothesize about the results. In other words, they make an educated guess about the answer to the question.
2. Execution of research procedures. The procedures reflect all the activities involved in collecting data related to the problem
(e.g., how data are collected and from whom). To a great extent, the specific procedures are dictated by the research question and the variables involved in the study.
3. Analysis of data. Data are analyzed in a way that permits the researcher to test the research hypothesis or answer the research question. Analysis usually involves application of one or more statistical technique. For some studies, data analysis involves verbal synthesis of narrative data; these studies typically involve new insights about the phenomena in question, generate hypotheses for future research, or both.
4. Drawing and stating conclusions. The conclusions, which should advance our general knowledge of the topic in question, are based on the results of data analysis. They should be stated in terms of the original hypothesis or research question. Conclusions should indicate, for example, whether the research hypothesis was supported or not. For studies involving verbal synthesis, conclusions are much more tentative.
different aPProaches to educational research
All educational inquiry ultimately involves a decision to study or describe something—to ask some question and seek an answer. All educational inquiry necessitates that data of some kind be collected, that the data be analyzed in some way, and that the researcher come to some conclusion or interpretation. In other words, all educational inquiry shares the same four basic actions we find in the scientific method. However, it is not accurate to say that all educational research is an application of the scientific method. Important differences exist between the types of problems researchers investigate and the questions they ask, the types of data they collect, the form of data analysis, and the conclusions that the researcher can draw meaningfully and with validity.
the continuum of Research Philosophies
Historically, educational researchers used approaches that involved the use of the scientific method. However, over the last four decades,
researchers have adopted diverse philosophies toward their research. Now, there are certain philosophical assumptions that underpin an educational researcher’s decision to conduct research. These philosophical assumptions address issues related to the nature of reality (ontology), how researchers know what they know (epistemology), and the methods used to study a particular phenomenon (methodology), with an emphasis on quantitative or qualitative methods. As Creswell1 notes, historically, researchers compared the philosophical assumptions that underpinned qualitative and quantitative research approaches in order to establish the legitimacy of qualitative research, but given the evolution of qualitative and quantitative research over the past four decades, there is no longer any need to justify one set of philosophical assumptions over another set of assumptions.
Quantitative Research
Educational researchers have also followed welldefined, widely accepted procedures for stating research topics, carrying out the research process, analyzing the resulting data, and verifying the quality of the study and its conclusions. Often, these research procedures are based on what has come to be known as a quantitative approach to conducting and obtaining educational understandings. The quantitative framework in educational research involves the application of the scientific method to try to answer questions about education. At the end of this chapter you will find an example of quantitative research published in Child Development (a refereed journal): “Can Instructional and Emotional Support in the FirstGrade Classroom Make a Difference for Children at Risk of School Failure?” (Hamre & Pianta, 2005).
As this title suggests, this research investigates the ways in which children’s risk of school failure may be moderated by instructional and emotional support from teachers.
Quantitative research is the collection and analysis of numerical data to describe, explain, predict, or control phenomena of interest. Part II of the text will address in detail specific quantitative research designs that satisfy the assumptions
1 Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
underpinning a quantitative approach to research. A quantitative research approach entails more than just the use of numerical data. At the outset of a study, quantitative researchers state the hypotheses to be examined and specify the research procedures that will be used to carry out the study. They also maintain control over contextual factors that may interfere with the data collection and identify a sample of participants large enough to provide statistically meaningful data. Many quantitative researchers have little personal interaction with the participants they study because they frequently collect data using paper-and-pencil, noninteractive instruments. The analysis of numerical data can be complex but addressed systematically and Part III of the text will provide a detailed description for how to work with quantitative data.
Underlying quantitative research methods is the philosophical belief or assumption that we inhabit a relatively stable, uniform, and coherent world that we can measure, understand, and generalize about. This view, adopted from the natural sciences, implies that the world and the laws that govern it are somewhat predictable and can be understood by scientific research and examination. In this quantitative perspective, claims about the world are not considered meaningful unless they can be verified through direct observation.
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is the collection, analysis, and interpretation of comprehensive narrative and visual (i.e., non-numerical) data to gain insights into a particular phenomenon of interest. Part II of the text will address in detail specific qualitative research designs that satisfy the underpinning assumptions of a qualitative approach to research. Qualitative research approaches are based on different beliefs and designed for different purposes than quantitative research approaches. For example, qualitative researchers do not necessarily accept the view of a stable, coherent, uniform world. They argue that all meaning is situated in a particular perspective or context, and because different people and groups often have different perspectives and contexts, the world has many different meanings, none of which is necessarily more valid or true than another.
Qualitative research approaches tend to evolve as understanding of the research context and
participants deepens (think back to the discussion of inductive reasoning). As a result, qualitative researchers often avoid stating hypotheses before data are collected, and they may examine a particular phenomenon without a guiding statement about what may or may not be true about that phenomenon or its context. However, qualitative researchers do not enter a research setting without any idea of what they intend to study. Rather, they commence their research with “foreshadowed problems.”2 This difference is important—quantitative research usually tests a specific hypothesis; qualitative research often does not.
Additionally, in qualitative research, context is not controlled or manipulated by the researcher. The effort to understand the participants’ perspective requires researchers using qualitative methods to interact extensively and intimately with participants during the study, using time-intensive data collection methods such as interviews and observations. As a result, the number of participants tends to be small, and qualitative researchers analyze the data inductively by categorizing and organizing it into patterns that produce a descriptive, narrative synthesis.
Qualitative research differs from quantitative research in two additional ways: (1) Qualitative research often involves the simultaneous collection of a wealth of narrative and visual data over an extended period of time, and (2) as much as is possible, data collection occurs in a naturalistic setting. In quantitative studies, in contrast, research is most often conducted in researcher-controlled environments under researcher-controlled conditions, and the activities of data collection, analysis, and writing are separate, discrete activities. Because qualitative researchers strive to study people and events in their naturalistic settings, qualitative research is sometimes referred to as naturalistic research, naturalistic inquiry, or field-oriented research.
These two characteristics of qualitative research, the simultaneous study of many aspects of a phenomenon and the attempt to study things as they exist naturally, help in part to explain the growing enthusiasm for qualitative research in education, especially in applied teacher practitioner–oriented research. Some researchers and educators
2 Argonauts of the Western Pacific (p. 9), by B. Malinowski, 1922. London: Routledge.
feel that certain kinds of educational problems and questions do not lend themselves well to quantitative methods, which use principally numerical analysis and try to control variables in very complex environments. As qualitative researchers point out, findings should be derived from research conducted in real-world settings to have relevance to real-world settings.
At the end of this chapter, you will find an example of qualitative research published in Action in Teacher Education (a refereed journal): “Developing Teacher Epistemological Sophistication about Multicultural Curriculum: A Case Study” (Sleeter, 2009). This research investigates how teachers’ thinking about curriculum develops during a teacher preparation program and how the lessons from the case study might inform teacher education pedagogy. And, of course, the use of the word epistemological in the title introduces you to the language of educational research!
Mixed Methods Research
Mixed methods research combines quantitative and qualitative approaches by including both quantitative and qualitative data in a single study. The purpose of mixed methods research is to build on the synergy and strength that exists between quantitative and qualitative research approaches to understand a phenomenon more fully than is possible using either quantitative or qualitative approaches alone. Chapter 15 will describe in detail six mixed methods research designs (convergent-parallel, explanatory, exploratory, experimental, social justice, and multistage evaluation). However, the basic differences among the designs are related to the priority given to the following areas:
■ the type of data collected (i.e., qualitative and quantitative data are of equal weight, or one type of data has greater weight than the other)
■ the sequence of data collection (i.e., both types of data are collected during the same time period, or one type of data is collected in each sequential phase of the project)
■ the analysis techniques (i.e., either an analysis that combines the data or one that keeps the two types of data separate).
characteristics of Quantitative and Qualitative Research approaches
Earlier in this chapter, we presented four general, conceptual research steps used in the scientific method. In this section we expand the number of steps to six, which are followed by both quantitative researchers and qualitative researchers. As we discuss in subsequent chapters in Part II, however, the application of the steps differs depending on the research design. For example, the research procedures in qualitative research are often less rigid than those in quantitative research. Similarly, although both quantitative and qualitative researchers collect data, the nature of the data differs. Figure 1.1 compares the six steps of qualitative and quantitative research approaches and lists traits that characterize each approach at every step:
1. Identifying a research topic. Often the initial topic is narrowed to be more manageable.
2. Reviewing the literature. The researcher examines existing research to identify useful information and strategies for carrying out the study.
3. Selecting participants. Participants are purposefully selected (i.e., not randomly selected) and are usually fewer in number than in quantitative samples.
4. Collecting data. Qualitative data tend to be gathered from interviews, observations, and artifacts.
5. Analyzing and interpreting data. The researcher analyzes the themes and general tendencies and provides interpretations of the data.
6. Reporting and evaluating the research. The researcher summarizes and integrates the qualitative data in narrative and visual form.
Table 1.1 provides another snapshot of quantitative and qualitative research characteristics. Despite the differences between them, you should not consider quantitative and qualitative research approaches to be oppositional. Taken together, they represent the full range of educational research designs. The terms quantitative and qualitative are used to differentiate one approach from the other conveniently. If you see yourself as a positivist—the belief that
FiGuRE 1.1
• Characteristics of quantitative and qualitative research
Quantitative Characteristics
• Description and explanation-oriented
• Major role
• Justification for the research problem and specification for the need for the study
• Specific and narrow
• Measurable, observable data
• Predetermined instruments
• Numeric (numbered) data
• Large number of individuals
• Statistical analysis
• Description of trends, comparison of groups, or relationships among variables
• A comparison of results with predictions and past studies
• Standard and fixed
• Objective and unbiased
Steps in the Process of Research
Identifying a Research Problem
Reviewing the Literature
Qualitative Characteristics
• Exploratory and understanding-oriented
• Minor role
• Justification for the research problem
Selecting Participants/Sample
Collecting Data
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Reporting and Evaluating Research
• General and broad
• Participants' experiences
• Emerging protocols
• Text or image data
• Small number of individuals or sites
• Text analysis
• Description, analysis, and thematic development
• The larger meaning of findings
• Flexible and emerging
• Reflexive and biased
Source: Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research (5th ed.), (pp. 20, 464, 504, 541), by creswell, john w., © 2015. reprinted by permission of Pearson education, inc., upper saddle river, Nj.
qualities of natural phenomena must be verified by evidence before they can be considered knowledge—that does not mean you cannot use or learn from qualitative research methods. The same holds true for nonpositivist, phenomenologist qualitative researchers. Depending on the nature of the question, topic, or problem to be investigated, one of these approaches will
generally be more appropriate than the other, although selecting a primary approach does not preclude borrowing from the other. In fact, both may be utilized in the same studies, as when the administration of a (quantitative) questionnaire is followed by a small number of detailed (qualitative) interviews to obtain deeper explanations for the numerical data.
taBlE 1.1
• Overview of qualitative and quantitative research characteristics
Quantitative ResearchQualitative Research
Type of data collectedNumerical dataNon-numerical narrative and visual data
Research problemHypothesis and research procedures stated before beginning the study
Research problems and methods evolve as understanding of topic deepens
Manipulation of context Yes No
Sample sizeLarger Smaller
Research proceduresRelies on statistical proceduresRelies on categorizing and organizing data into patterns to produce a descriptive, narrative synthesis
Participant interactionLittle interactionExtensive interaction
Underlying beliefWe live in a stable and predictable world that we can measure, understand, and generalize about.
classification of research by design
A research design comprises the overall strategy followed in collecting and analyzing data.Although there is some overlap, most research studies follow a readily identifiable design. The largest distinction we can make in classifying research by design is the distinction between quantitative and qualitative approaches. Quantitative and qualitative research approaches, in turn, include several distinct types or designs with a focus on unique research problems.
Quantitative approaches
Quantitative research approaches are applied to describe current conditions, investigate relations, and study cause–effect phenomena. Survey research is often designed to describe current conditions. Studies that investigate the relations between two or more variables are correlational research. Experimental studies and causal–comparative studies provide information about cause–effect outcomes. Studies that focus
Meaning is situated in a particular perspective or context that is different for people and groups; therefore, the world has many meanings.
on the behavior change an individual exhibits as a result of some intervention fall under the heading of single-subject research.
Survey Research
Survey research determines and reports the way things are; it involves collecting numerical data to test hypotheses or answer questions about the current status of the subject of study. One common type of survey research involves assessing the preferences, attitudes, practices, concerns, or interests of a group of people. A pre-election political poll and a survey about community members’ perception of the quality of the local schools are examples. Survey research data are mainly collected through questionnaires, interviews, and observations.
Although survey research sounds very simple, there is considerably more to it than just asking questions and reporting answers. Because researchers often ask questions that have not been asked before, they usually have to develop their own measuring instrument for each survey study. Constructing questions for the intended respondents requires clarity, consistency, and tact. Other
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ILLUSTRATION (FIFTH GRADE)
Superintendent Alexander was loaded with the responsibility of bringing an end to a series of petty thefts in a fifth grade room. The teacher laid the matter before him, in a manner which showed her extreme annoyance. He calmed her by saying:
“Leave it to me. I have long said there are no ‘bad boys’ and I believe it yet.” Mr. Alexander continues his story:
“Who Stole?”
“The boys knew before this that I would play fair with them. The first time I met two or three of the fifth grade boys individually, I let them know that I was aware something was wrong in their room, but made no charges nor inquiries. There was good reason to believe that several boys were involved in the pranks. By falling in with the boys they began giving me bits of stories about what had been stolen and when. In a few days I was able to piece up accounts of three serious robberies. I called together four boys who, I was morally certain, were guilty. I said:
“‘I want you fellows to straighten up some little matters that need your attention.’
“‘What matters?’ one of the boys inquired.
“‘You know as well as I,’ said I.
“I paused a moment and told the three stories quickly. I did not insist on anything further but promptly dismissed them. Within three days full confessions were made to me individually and restitution was accomplished in two cases.”
Personal influence is a powerful and a dangerous force. Sometimes children indulge in character-warping conduct in the hope of winning the personal favor of a beloved teacher.
CASE 119 (FIFTH GRADE)
Desiring Approval
Sigrid Holderson was a pale, timid, anæmic child, who never joined the other children in their play, and one whom the other children seemed instinctively to dislike. When she was in the fifth grade she conceived
a blind adoration for her teacher, Miss Field. She brought her votive offerings of wilted flowers and specked apples, all her limited resources afforded; and she watched for chances to prove her devotion by running errands and cleaning erasers.
One noon she came in with flushed cheeks and handed Miss Field a crumpled piece of paper containing a list of names.
“All those kids was sliding on the bank where you told them not to,” she announced. “I took down every kid’s name that went down.”
Miss Field had the usual horror of “tattling.”
“Why, you little tattler, you!” she said. “Go right to your seat, Sigrid, and don’t ever do such a thing again! You must never tattle unless it is necessary.”
Sigrid’s humiliation was complete. Her adored teacher had rejected her choicest offering, the paper whose writing had been done with stiff, cold fingers to an accompaniment of jibes from the lawless sliders. Her little mind could not quite fathom why Miss Field did not approve her deed, but seemed instead to take sides with the disobedient pupils.
This rebuff cured Sigrid of tattling, but the cure was worse than the disease. When Miss Field deserted her, Sigrid felt she had lost her last friend. Her classmates heaped scorn upon her as a “tattle-cat”; she withdrew more and more into herself, and became more and more abnormally sensitive.
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
When a child tells on his classmates, he is usually either overconscientious or out of sympathy with them. Miss Field might quietly have accepted the paper, and thus have avoided increasing the estrangement between Sigrid and her classmates. She should then have set about finding the cause of Sigrid’s isolation, and devised ways of making her one of the group. She should have known that Sigrid’s pitiful paper was a bid for the approbation and love which her isolation denied her; it was the blind feeling for common ground with another human being, which Sigrid missed because her relations with the other children were not healthful.
COMMENTS
It is usually the out-of-the-set child who tattles; when his relations with the set are normal, he will not practice tale-bearing. Tattling which grows out of pure love of mischief or pure malevolence is very rare.
ILLUSTRATION (EIGHTH GRADE)
Visiting Poolroom
Several boys from the London eighth grade were reported to be frequenting the poolroom. The question was who planned and led the fellows in breaking the school rules and the State laws.
The teacher easily ascertained that three particular boys were in the company, but there were others and the chief offender was not yet named.
Superintendent McMadsen took hold of the situation. He met the three boys and said:
“Now we are not planning any sort of punishment, even though the law permits it. We want everybody to speak frankly and talk the matter over freely. You boys are old enough to be summoned as witnesses and made to tell who was with you in the poolroom. But that isn’t the best way.
“The proper thing to do is for you and me to come to an agreement as to what we should do about this matter in the future. Then I want you to tell the other boys also to come to me and talk the matter out.”
The matter lay for a week before the last boy appeared. The talks were brief, but the moral victory of individual action on the issue was worth the patient delay.
CASE 120 (EIGHTH GRADE)
Portia Armstrong attended the moving picture show one evening and said to her teacher next day:
“Ben Sawyer and some of the boys sat just behind us girls and said, ‘Say, girls, let’s steal out and take a joy ride like that some night.’”
Proposes Joy Rides
“O, Portio, what did you let him talk to you for? Never repeat anything such a boy says. I think it’s ridiculous the way girls and boys talk nowadays. I simply don’t want to hear of any such foolish going-on.”
Portia took her teacher at her word. She told her nothing of what the boys said to the girls after that.
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
In your abhorrence of tattling, do not permit yourself to lose an opportunity to safeguard an inexperienced girl. Say to Portia, “How did the girls answer the question? Were any of them tempted to do such an unwise thing?” Lead Portia on in the conversation until you discover her own attitude toward the right or wrong of indulging herself in such forbidden pleasures. Leave her finally with a strong suggestion in favor of right conduct firmly lodged in her mind. You may say in closing, “You will do all you can do, won’t you, to prevent any of the girls from thoughtlessly entering into engagements which they may regret all their lives? Can’t you girls plan some way to make the boys understand that you have too much self-respect even to be amused at such proposals? It will be a good lesson for the boys as well. Apparently they have not a very high opinion of the girls.”
COMMENTS
Miss Anthony, by her own shortsightedness, robbed Portia of a teacher’s wisdom and counsel, and herself of a chance to gain insight into the social dangers of her pupils. Even if Portia does not specially need counsel at the present moment, she is liable at any time to have her scruples overruled by the stronger combined influence of the social group of which she is a member. Besides, Portia’s good influence with the group may be greater than your own. She reaches them directly, you only indirectly.
ILLUSTRATION (HIGH SCHOOL)
Miss Henderson in the same school made better use of her opportunities.
Vile Notes
Mary Macknet, who was in first year high school, told Miss Henderson of a scandalous note that had been dropped on the desk of a loud, forward girl by a daring boy.
Miss Henderson said, “I’m too disturbed by what you say to go on with my work. Let’s sit down and talk about it. How shocking that such an insult should happen to a girl! I’m glad that you told me about it because now we can plan how to act in regard to it.
“You say you have hardly ever spoken to the girl? Well, make no change in your treatment of her. Some foolish girls will encourage her through ignorance and sympathy. Do not follow their example. Refuse to discuss the note episode with any of the girls. If any of them begin to talk to you about it, say, ‘It’s too disgraceful even to talk about. Is the next algebra lesson hard?’”
CASE 121 (SEVENTH GRADE)
Two boys in a wild chase dashed in at the front door, turned to the left and crashed into a show-case belonging to a historical exhibit.
Broken
Showcase
The ward school principal went to the seventh grade room and made inquiries.
“Who smashed that show-case?” No one answered. Then roll call was ordered and each pupil questioned, “Did you break the showcase?” This brought no further light on the matter, so the principal tried a broadside:
“Does anybody here know who broke the show-case?” Nellie Arbaugh’s hand went up.
“What do you know?”
“All about it.”
“Tell me who it was.”
“I don’t want to get anyone into trouble,” was Nellie’s stammering reply.
“You’ll have to tell if I get hold of you,” was the menacing rejoinder.
“I don’t see how I can,” replied the perplexed girl.
Refusal to “Tell”
The child related her experience at home in order to lighten the load of her troubles.
“I didn’t tell because I didn’t want to be mean to the other pupils.”
“Would you report a murderer if you saw him when committing a crime?”
“Yes; but school is different. No boy or girl in school would tell unless he wanted to be mean. The boys and girls who are naughty want to be let alone. They’ll settle with the teacher their own way. If the teachers want to ask some questions I suppose it’s all right. But they shouldn’t compel answers. What shall I do, mother?”
“Don’t lie, child. If you don’t see that you ought to tell on another pupil don’t do it. Prove your goodwill, but turn aside these troublesome questions.”
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
Instead of this farce the principal of this ward school could make this announcement:
“It is customary in this school for pupils to make good the damage done in a case like this. If the cost of repairs is too large for them they may come to the office anyway and we will hit upon some plan of getting around the difficulty.
“Now I know that seventh graders are responsible for this accident. I have traced that down to a certainty. But I don’t want to know who actually smashed the case. Please order Mr. Selfredge, the hardware man, to make the repairs, and then you settle for the expense and that will end the matter according to the standards of gentlemen.”
COMMENTS
A teacher has no right to put a child into the predicament of choosing between two conflicting moral codes without explaining the situation and giving due thought to the pupil’s viewpoint. Parents will rightly affirm that a teacher is tactless and incompetent who runs his pupils up into a corner on the matter of tattling.
On the other hand, how strong is the appreciation of the teacher or principal who gives opportunity for a dignified moral choice! The appeal to manhood or womanhood never fails to draw forth a response. In some pupils the response is insufficient, but when a wise disciplinarian makes such an appeal he almost invariably gets the desired results.
ILLUSTRATION (SEVENTH GRADE)
A drawing teacher appeared in a seventh grade room twice a week. It came her turn to suffer from a school prank—pepper scattered on the floor produced an uncontrollable epidemic of sneezing.
There was not the least clue to the offender, but the teacher was too proud to thrust the matter into other hands, so she made this announcement:
“You can see very well that this sort of thing is intolerable. We must see that no one reports this. I want to ask the seventh grade to hold a special class meeting and dispose of the trouble the best they know how.”
The superintendent was notified of the plan, consented to it, and in fact waited with interest to see who was made chairman of the meeting. To his dismay the neatest scamp of the forty pupils was made chairman. After the superintendent retired, the chairman with great dignity shut and locked the door, and put the key in his pocket just in time to prevent the departure of two timid souls.
For an hour and a half the conference continued with almost unflagging interest. At the end the door opened and the valiant chairman met the superintendent just emerging from a nearby position and reported:
“That’s all been fixed up. It ain’t goin’ to happen again.”
CASE 122 (HIGH SCHOOL)
Property Destroyed
The celebration of the decision of the school board to erect a new building caused the Culpeper High School principal no little anxiety. The bonfire was built on the schoolgrounds, it was started without permission and some property belonging to the neighbors was destroyed—three serious offenses. Mr. Peters called in the senior class and said to each member privately.
“Did you witness the bonfire? Did you help build it?” There was no previous agreement, yet each pupil kept totally silent as to the information desired. Their only reply was:
“Our class did it but I can’t say who.” As a consequence, hours of time were wasted and strained relations existed between pupils and teachers. Saddest of all there was no positive lesson in good discipline.
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
A better method is to let the matter rest so far as the class as a whole is concerned. In a casual way, say to the class president:
“The bonfire built by the senior class involved some little expense for material. I have an itemized list of the articles destroyed and what seems to be a just estimate of value. I’ll turn it over to you for adjustment.
“I want to ask you to present this question to the class at your regular meeting next Friday: ‘Shall we secure permission hereafter when we want to have a bonfire?’ The answer is ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ I want the answer, if you please, at the close of your meeting. I say this because the board of education insists that I bring word to them of your action.”
COMMENTS
The stories of student escapades of by-gone days have left a reputation that later pupils must live down. In fact, the pranks of
today are, on the whole, not so serious as those of the past, although teachers many times are over-anxious about student conduct.
It is safe to assume that there is no criminality in the ordinary public school pupil. By treating the breach of decorum of school rules as, in a way, accidental, the actual restraint of pupils from serious excesses is much more certain.
The opportunity of passing upon the nature of a misdeed in school is a most valuable one, in view of the larger need of private judgment of community activities which is required of every citizen. Teachers are in the wrong when they demand that every prominent act of disobedience shall be referred to them for final action. The natural right of private judgment is defended by the usual horror of tattling. Consequently, a teacher who sees all these facts will guard against infringement of pupils’ rights at this point.
ILLUSTRATION (HIGH SCHOOL)
Life in the Pemberton High School seemed stale to Charles Rembrandt. He secured two faithful aids and planned an event that would add some “pep” to life.
High School Tricks
Si Jones milked at 4:30 a.m. and was off to work by 5:30. The three boys procured two pairs of old pants and an old blanket and stealthily slipped into Si’s barn after Si’s disappearance and before daylight. In twenty minutes’ time the cow was “dressed.” The rope seemed to be securely tied, so the boys quickly departed one by one, not leaving any clue to their identity.
Old Blossom labored with her togs with some moderation for an hour or two, but when they began to come to pieces her desperation rose to excitement and violence.
When the children were gathering for school, the climax was reached, for Blossom tore away from her stall, broke out of the barn and yard and went dashing down toward town. Her flight was a triumph of sensation, as you may well believe.
Si Jones returned late in the afternoon, hunted up his cow and kept silence. The next morning he met one of the high school
teachers.
“Did you know what the boys did to my cow yesterday?”
“Yes, and they are going to get a good hard penalty of some sort, just as soon as we find out who they are.”
“Just see here,” said Jones in a confidential way. “I want you to leave that matter in my hands.”
As Si was working on his fence, Tom Scanlan edged up toward him and remarked:
“What tore your fence down, Mr. Jones?”
“Why, my Jersey broke out yesterday; didn’t you see her? Nearly everybody else did. And she’s nearly ruined.”
Tom looked off a moment and said: “I told Charley not to do it.”
During the conversation several hints cropped out and Si knew enough to start his campaign.
Several of the boys came around in groups, but Jones kept his own counsel, gathering items all the while.
Days later he met Charles alone.
“I have been waiting for you to talk to me, Charles, about my Jersey cow.”
“We didn’t mean to have your cow get away, Mr. Jones.”
“Well, I’m spending ten dollars on repairs. I’ve decided to tear this old fence down and build a better one. I’ve got to do it out of working hours. You say there were two others with you. If you fellows will give me a lift on this job, I’ll be mighty glad to have it. If you’ll do that, we’ll call it square.”
“We’ll do it, Mr. Jones. I’ll get the boys this afternoon and we’ll be there when you come home.”
This saved the boys and protected Si Jones for years to come, and the school teacher learned a lesson from a laboring man on how to avoid raising the tattling issue.
First Grade
(5) Swearing and vile language. Swearing or the use of offensive and vulgar language can be very troublesome among even small children. One boy who swears or uses bad language can teach an entire school to do the same. In homes where such language is employed, the children
will use it away from home, and unfortunately, in unguarded moments, will use it on the school grounds or in play and other activities. At the outset the teacher must learn that in such instances she cannot effect a cure. All she can do is to prevent it on the school grounds and in school. There is but one way to do that, namely, to supervise all activities at the school.
On the other hand, a child that comes from a home where the use of offensive language is prohibited, is easily controlled. Close supervision will usually eliminate the practice at school. If the teacher’s attitude coincides with that of the home, the difficulty is easily overcome.
She can not hope to cure all children who indulge in swearing, but many will heed her admonitions, and if she uses all her influence against swearing and vulgar language and supervises her pupils in all their activities, she has done her duty.
(6) Obstructed expression—Stammering and stuttering. Stuttering is not a misdemeanor, neither are such characteristics of a child as awkwardness, slowness, or some slight deformity. However, the other pupils often are thoughtless and make fun of the child that stutters or who in some other way is unlike his playmates, until he can do no work satisfactorily and perhaps, finally, stops school. Thus, whatever is done to help the child will lessen the necessity of disciplining other pupils.
First Grade
Although stuttering is not an immoral act, it is a very trying difficulty when it presents itself to the teacher in the first grade. It is known that stuttering is due to an improper control of certain muscles, and that anything which excites or draws attention to the afflicted child will cause him to stutter more than usual. It is in the first grade that the habit becomes exaggerated; that is, a child that stutters very little when he enters school may have the difficulty intensified during his first year in school. This is due to the large amount of attention given to the child by the other pupils and by the teacher.
The very first caution for the teacher is positively to pay no apparent attention at all to a child’s stuttering. If a teacher can do this, it will have a marked effect upon the other pupils in making them pay less heed to it and in due time they will become accustomed to the peculiarity and not notice it at all. If other
children are inclined to laugh or tease, the teacher should remain serious and the attention of the children should immediately be directed to another pupil whom she will call upon to recite.
A stuttering child must have plenty of exercise and fresh air. He should not be required to sit too long in school. In the middle of the sessions, the teacher, may ask him to get her something from out-ofdoors or have an arrangement with him that he may leave the room at a certain time each day and return in so many minutes. The latter is not so good a plan, and if used, must be used carefully.
The second requirement for a child that stutters is a good physical condition: that means, he must have good food and clothing. This the teacher cannot provide, but she can be the means by which the child may secure the same. No parents surely are so thoughtless regarding the welfare of their children that they will not join a teacher in effecting a cure for stuttering. The teacher can explain the methods she intends to use and then ask the parents to see that the child has good food and clothing and is kept in a good physical condition. If a teacher can cure the stuttering of a first grade child, she is accomplishing a good for his entire life; one that will win life-long gratitude.
The teacher must guard the child against exciting situations, especially those in which he must say something. Under such conditions he would certainly stutter. He can be allowed to enter into exciting games providing he will not need to talk. The teacher as much as possible should cut short the conversation which is likely to cause stuttering.
It is quite necessary that the teacher should watch very closely to see that the child gets no chance to indulge in lengthy conversations. Whenever the teacher talks with him,—and the teacher should talk often with a stuttering child,—she should conduct her part of the conversation in such a way that it will require only short responses from the child. Even then, if he should begin to stutter, the teacher should repeat the response with him to the close of the sentence, and then drop the conversation. A child that stutters will often succeed in speaking a sentence if someone else repeats the sentence with him. The teacher can do much effective work with the child by thus repeating with him the replies he wishes to make.
For the sake of the teacher who may be confronted with a child that stutters, definite directions are given regarding specific subjects, —so definite that if carried out, the child will be materially aided and in most cases cured.
The teacher must have the very best methods at hand and understand their application in order to help a child that stutters. She must remember that every method she uses will be of no avail if the child knows that she is “using a method.” Therefore, in whatever she does there should be no ostentation.
In the first grade there is little work that requires oral recitations other than the first crude attempts at reading, numbers and language. In busy work, drawing and writing, the child need say nothing.
Learning to Read
In the reading, the teacher must be careful not to have the child read too long sentences by himself. The teacher should read with him; by so doing she helps him along without the irritation of stuttering. She must read in a firm, even tone of voice. A teacher who has a harsh voice will often do more harm than good, if she doesn’t control her voice. One of the very best things to do, during the first week of school, is to have all the pupils memorize several easy songs and poems. When the teacher first calls up the class, she may say, “Now, children, we will all say our poem together.” The teacher must speak it with the pupils for the first week or two. The stuttering child must be watched to be sure that he repeats the poem with the others. Speaking it with the others carries the child along and he can say in concert what he could not utter alone without stuttering. Then the teacher may say to some other pupils, “Mary you and I will speak the poem together.” The teacher should choose the pupil who has memorized the poem best and who has a good voice. Next she may repeat it with Mary and the stuttering child and finally alone with the stuttering child. By this plan the afflicted child will not once suspect that an effort is being made to help him personally. Such a drill can be given at the beginning of every lesson and will materially help the stutterer. The lesson following the drill should always be simple. Care should be taken that any sentence he is asked to read or repeat is not too long and that it is clearly understood.
Nothing is better for speech drill than number work. In counting, have the child count slowly and plainly. Never require him to count farther than he knows. If he can count to ten, have him count to ten, then say, “Now, you and I will count together to twelve.” Then count with him to and including twelve. Repeat the counting; then say to the child, “Now you count to twelve by yourself.” As soon as he shows the least tendency to stutter, count with him. The counting can be prolonged little by little. Counting in concert will also be helpful.
In language work the greatest care must be exercised. It is difficult for the best of pupils in the first grade to tell a story, much more so for the stuttering child. Even though he may know the story, it would not be helping him to have him tell it, for just as soon as he becomes confused in thought, he will begin to stutter, and since the teacher does not know just what the child wishes to say next, she can not
Pictures help him. The situation differs in this case from that of number work and reading; for the teacher can repeat what the child wants to say in those subjects knowing what comes next. However, the child must be taught something in language; he dare not be neglected. He is too young to write the story; hence it is necessary to give him special work. Special work has its drawback because the child notices that he does not do what the other children are doing and begins to feel that he is being singled out for particular work, and that is especially to be avoided; hence the teacher must use such work as can be employed for the other pupils.
The following plan has been used in the very best of primary schools, and is, perhaps, one of the most effective methods for first grade language work: a method that will secure correct and exact expression, just the thing that should be emphasized in oral English.
The teacher selects story pictures; not gaudy or highly colored ones, but such as are simple and full of real life—“Can’t You Talk?” “Kiss Me,” “Village Blacksmith,” “Feeding the Hens,” “Friends or Foes,” “Lessons in Boat Building,” “Oversleeping,” “No Thoroughfare,” “Which Do You Like,” “Family Cares,” “Saved,” and a well chosen Madonna or two. These pictures can be obtained from the Perry Pictures Collection at one cent each; they come in soft grays and browns. The teacher can ask, “What do you see?” Have each child hold up his hand when he sees something. Instruct the children to begin their statements with “I see, etc.” Call first upon one of the best pupils. He will no doubt say, “I see a little girl.” Then if the stuttering child has his hand up, call upon him. He will say, “I see a dog.” He will utter this easily because he has had time to think what he wishes to say. Then the teacher may ask what the pupils think the little girl is saying. Give each pupil plenty of time to think. As the hands go up, call upon the best pupil first. Have the child begin the statement, “I think the little girl is saying....” Allow each child to express himself, including the child that stutters. Never call upon the stuttering child first. At this point the teacher may tell the class to be seated while she relates the story of the picture.
The teacher should avoid such pictures as “Washington Crossing the Delaware,” “The Landing of the Pilgrims,” “The Signing of the
Declaration of Independence,” etc. They are full of action, to be sure, but too difficult for the children to understand.
Whatever the subject taught, the general rule is this: When calling on the child who stutters, let the teacher ask some question which can be easily and quickly answered. As for instance in a geography lesson: “Does Ohio lie east or west of Virginia?” Upon receiving the answer let her approve if the right answer is given, and in either case, immediately center attention upon some other pupil. You will find that elation over your approval will help the stutterer to get into the habit of reciting when you call upon him, especially if attention is immediately centered upon some other pupil, so that he may lose self-consciousness over his speech defect in reciting before the class.
It is asking much from a teacher to work so patiently each day of a school year to cure a stuttering child. It is infringing upon the other pupils’ time; but teacher and pupils should all be glad to sacrifice enough to help one child for life over a defect that will make or mar his success and happiness.
A few general rules must be remembered by the teacher who attempts to remedy the defect of stuttering.
First, never call upon the child to recite suddenly. That tends to excite him and will cause him to stutter.
Secondly, a pupil can not express what he does not fully have in mind. Another child may be able to think while speaking, but the stutterer can not. To try to think while he speaks will make him stutter. Always give plenty of time to get into mind what is to be said, and then call upon him to say it. The chances are that he will express himself without stuttering. Even when the child holds up his hand, wait a few seconds so he will be sure to know what he wants to say.
Thirdly, the stuttering child will learn slowly. He should not be hurried. What he learns should all be so learned that he will have no indefinite ideas. He can not express what he does not fully understand.
Lastly, a teacher must not lose patience with a child that stutters. If he does not know the lesson, have him reproduce something from a past lesson, something he knows well. Approve his effort and say nothing about the lesson he did not know.
It may be added also that there is no better school exercise for a stuttering child than singing. He can sing without stuttering what he cannot express otherwise.
2. Written Expression
First Grade
(1) Scribbling and drawing on books, sidewalks, etc. As soon as children can write so as to express the simplest ideas in writing, and drawing, they begin to write and draw promiscuously in their books, on their desks, on the pavement, on fences, on buildings and anywhere they discover a surface upon which they can write. They frequently steal crayon in order to satisfy their desire to write and draw. Their names appear at odd places; in fact they have a mania for writing their names upon all their school property. The tendency is not bad in itself, but it often leads to bad results. Every pupil should know that his name is his own appellation and he should regard it as sacred. It is brazen and disrespectful to have one’s name promiscuously scattered about in writing. But there are worse phases of this habit of writing and drawing on anything within reach. A teacher may have been embarrassed to pass over the pavement, along a building or by the fence and to see her name in connection with that of some man whom the pupils believe to be her sweetheart; she may even find the same in the pupils’ books. Still another type and the worst one, is the writing of immoral phrases and the drawing of obscene pictures. Often little children do not know the full import of what they are doing.
It cannot be unpedagogical or a violation of any principle to teach pupils not to write their names about carelessly, not to write others’ names and bad phrases or silly statements in their books, not to draw any kind of picture in improper places, and not to deface their desks. It has been stated so many times that direct teaching of good habits can and must be done in all sincerity on the teacher’s part. There need not be one harsh or unkind word said. The talk to pupils on these matters must be given in a friendly and helpful spirit.
All parents desire that their children take good care of their school books and accessories. Still many first grade pupils fall into the habit of taking the poorest care of school property. Should there be pupils who show a tendency to misuse their books by writing in them, the teacher may tell the pupils that she is going to put the names of every
pupil on the board and then for each week that a pupil takes good care of his books, she will put a star after that child’s name. When he gets a certain number of stars, perhaps four, she may allow some special privilege or it may not be amiss to give a pencil or a picture as a reward. Little folk will exert great effort to secure a small favor.
Examples of the abuse of written expression have been used so copiously in the elaboration of other cases that the subject is treated very meagerly here. The following is, however, a typical case.
CASE 123 (HIGH SCHOOL)
Marking Books
Something was wrong in the McLain High School; even Orpha Barbour, one of the most decorous girls in school, was ineffectually trying to keep from giggling. Mr. Coleman endeavored to locate the cause of the disturbance and saw that a book was being surreptitiously passed about and that whoever received it was vastly amused.
He demanded that the book be given to him. On the fly leaf he saw what was named “Our museum.” Under this title were caricatures of some of the students as follows: under the drawing of tall, slender Clayton Lynd was written “Spider—C. L.” Heavy-jawed Barney McCormack was designated “Bulldog—B. McC.” Then followed the monkey; the crawfish, a girl who was always ready to recant; the queen bee, the leader among the girls; the mule, a stubborn fellow; and the grasshopper, Mr. Coleman, who had made a great leap to reach an unruly boy a day or two before.
“Who did this drawing?” asked Mr. Coleman, flushed with anger. Nobody seemed to know.
Mr. Coleman turned to the front of the book—an algebra—and found it belonged to Victor Tucker.
“Victor Tucker, did you draw these disgraceful pictures?”
“No, sir.”
“Do you know who did it?”
“I’d rather not answer,” said Victor.
“You are suspended, sir, until you do answer,” said Mr. Coleman. Then turning to address all of the students, he said, “I shall keep a close watch for marked-up books hereafter, and shall punish every pupil who puts extraneous markings of any kind in any of his textbooks.”
CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
Mr. Coleman should have laughed at the caricatures and said, “These are well done—now let us take up something else.” Do not lay down a law or make a rule covering “all future cases.” He should utilize these artistic gifts in the school routine and so make them educative instead of obstructive to good school order.
COMMENTS
Rules are often a dare to pupils. The bold ones take pleasure in seeing if they cannot break the rules without being caught, or sometimes even openly disobey to see if the prescribed penalty will be administered. Approval of good conduct is more efficacious than condemnation of bad behavior.
An up-to-date teacher quickly discovers all of his pupils who have an aptitude for drawing, whether it be crude or well trained. In every subject in school there is not only opportunity but also urgent need for the use of diagrams, sketches and detailed drawings to make clear many obscure points in these subjects. If the teacher will direct into approved channels these tendencies to decorate books and public places, great relief will be gained and immense profit will accrue to the pupils.
ILLUSTRATION (HIGH SCHOOL)
Approve the Clean Book
Prof. Pierce of Lakeville High School has the habit of picking up books from pupils’ desks and glancing through them occasionally while recitations are
going on. When he finds an exceptionally clean, well kept book he says, “I like to see a neat book like this. It is a good index to the kind of boy that owns it.” He has no trouble regarding marked up textbooks.
Lower Grade
(2) Learning to write neatly. It is not an easy task to take the early steps in writing which are so highly interesting for the first grade child. Still less easy is the training in carefulness, neatness and accuracy. Much of the difficulty is due, however, to the fact that the teacher attempts too much at one time, is not sufficiently explicit in giving directions, forgets that little children learn quickest through imitation, and lastly that they constantly need the stimulus of approval for effort, and coöperation in the mastery of new and difficult tasks.
As an initial step toward overcoming any neglect in these directions we would suggest that whenever any task is assigned, you first tell the child very definitely how you want the work done. Assume that the child does not know as well as you just what you mean by the word “careful.” Show concretely just what you do mean. Take a blank piece of paper and write before him on his desk. Assign some simple, concrete thing for him to write and say, “Now, this is the way to do it.” Or, “Here is something I want you to write for me. Now I have found that a good way to do it is like this:” (then show the child your plan on paper).
Take time enough at the child’s desk to say, “Do you see what I mean?” “Do you understand how I want it done?” No matter what the child says, repeat your plan briefly, so that he will be sure to remember. Leave his desk smiling and say, “I’ll come back to your desk after you have finished and see how well you did it.”
Do not give the pupil a hard task. In fact, make it very easy and simple. Then go back to the pupil’s desk in ten or fifteen minutes, and make up your mind before you go back that you will not say anything at all to the pupil except to approve those parts of his work that are at all good. For example, say, “There’s a very good letter ‘O’; I am not sure that I could beat that myself, and there’s another good letter—and there’s another. Well, I should say! That’s all right. I am going to give you some more work like that tomorrow. I did not know you could do so good work.” Leave the desk while the child is feeling elated over what you have said.
